Airport marketing focuses on convenience over price

Mid-Missouri travelers looking to fly out of state sometimes have less expensive flight options available if they are willing to first drive to St. Louis or Kansas City before flying out.

Columbia marketing efforts are in part focusing on the convenience of flying out of the Columbia Regional Airport. Steve Sapp, the city’s director of community relations, said a city consultant monitors airfare and for the month of July found that the average cost for people flying out of Columbia to various destinations was about $303 while the average cost for flights to those same destinations from the Kansas City International Airport was about $209.

“There’s so many variables booked into fares,” Sapp said.

Earlier this week, United Airlines started offering service at the Columbia Regional Airport. Previously, American Airlines was the only airline option for passengers looking to fly out of Columbia. United Airlines flies to Denver International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport while American Airlines flies to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O’Hare.

Flight costs vary depending on how far in advance a passenger books a trip, the day of the week and time of year. When looking to book a flight to Chicago on a weekend in mid-September, currently, passengers will see ticket fares of about $300 round trip from the Columbia airport, about $252 from the St. Louis airport and about $156 from the Kansas City airport.

Sapp said many factors also contribute to travel cost aside from just airfare, including parking and gas.

“By the time you factor in drive time, parking, fuel, wear and tear on the car … it really is a huge difference,” Sapp said.

When calculating mileage based on the IRS per mile business rate for 2015, the travel cost to St. Louis would be about $118 and the cost to Kansas City would be about $159. When adding that and parking at each airport — $11.50 per day in St. Louis and $8.50 per day in Kansas City — the Columbia airport comes out on top with the cheapest total travel cost. The gas and parking costs bump flying from St. Louis up to about $389 for a two-day trip and to about $329 from Kansas City.

If more than one person is traveling in a car to the St. Louis or Kansas City airports then the driving costs decrease per person. Sapp said it may not always be cheaper to fly from Columbia compared to the cost of driving to another airport.

However, passengers looking to book a flight to Denver on a weekday in mid-September may opt to make the drive. The airfare roundtrip from Columbia to Denver for a two-day trip in the middle of next month would be about $578 while comparable flights from St. Louis would be just $134 and from Kansas City just $137. Even with driving and parking costs, the total travel cost would be cheaper in that case from another airport.

“We understand that it doesn’t work for everything. We certainly believe that it works more often than not,” Sapp said. “Even if you’re still off by $30 or $40, again, you have to look at that convenience factor.”

Sapp said the city encourages people to first look at the Columbia Regional Airport when booking flights and to account for parking fees and vehicle mileage costs rather than just looking at flight fares. He said the city’s advertising related to the airport has emphasised the tagline “there faster, home sooner.”

“You’re just a lot closer to home,” he said. “You don’t have to travel before you travel.”

If someone drives to St. Louis or Kansas City, he said they have a longer wait at baggage claim and have to fight I-70 traffic.

The city’s agreement with United Airlines included the city spending $250,000 on marketing United. The airline is letting the city run the marketing effort and the city is working with Bucket Media, a local company, on strategies.

Bucket Media has primarily focused on digital campaigns and is mainly marketing the Denver Route. United also offers Chicago flights but American Airlines does as well. The Denver Route is a brand new option for the Columbia airport and the 17 counties, including Boone County, to which it markets.

“I think we are going to be heavy on business for most of our routes,” Sapp said. “But we really look at the Denver route as an opening for more leisure travel.”

At an event celebrating the addition of United flights earlier this week, Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said flights people have booked with United from the Columbia airport have final destinations in 48 different states and 45 different countries.

“I’ve always talked about this airport being a catalyst for our economy,” Treece said Wednesday.

Highlighting the opportunities to connect to more places without driving is part of the city’s marketing efforts. Treece and other local officials have touted the airport and the addition of United’s services there as an opportunity to increase tourism and better attract and retain businesses in central Missouri.

Andrew Bell, United Airlines sales manager for Missouri, on Wednesday said the Denver flight will be able to better connect mid-Missouri passengers to other destinations.

The city’s agreement with United also included a $600,000 revenue guarantee, meaning the city, other public agencies and private partners who contributed will cover the cost of any revenue shortfall United experiences in its first year at the airport. Any money left in the fund at the end of one year will be returned to the entities which contributed to the $600,000.

The airline’s first return flight from Chicago on Wednesday had 19 out of 50 seats filled. Sapp said Wednesday that just as with American, it may take time to build a consistent customer base for United at the Columbia Airport. When American first came to the Columbia airport in 2013, the city had a two-year, $3 million revenue guarantee with the airline, similar to its agreement with United. The city made one $22,562 payment to American at the time to account for empty seats. However, City Manager Mike Matthes previously told the Tribune that the fund earned more interest than the amount paid during the length of the agreement so each group which had invested received more money back.

Sapp added that United and American both were reporting full flights the weekend before the solar eclipse later this month.